Real Name: Wes Bloomquist Member Since: September 27, 2007 Last Signed In: October 11, 2008 Profile Views: 574 Blog Views: 2696 Memorial takes loss to Wagner Longhorns, Sooners set for showdown Signing out from San Antonio Vipers at South San Antonio Memorial drops district opener Vipers, Tigers to be featured on blog Back from Memorial's 35-13 win over Moody Memorial defense joins in on the fun Vipers looking for a 2-0 start Sooners should be No. 1 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 
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Wagner takes a 52-7 win back to San Antonio and drops the Vipers to 1-2 in District 27-5A action. ............................... Wagner makes sure Memorial doesn't start to think comeback here at the stadium. Brown scores his third touchdown for the Thunderbirds and Wagner leads 45-7 late in the third quarter. ............................................ O.J. Hughes keeps it around the right side of the Vipers line and takes it 33 yards for Memorial's first score of the night. Vipers still trail 38-7 with 3:20 in the third quarter. .............................. Not getting any better here Viper fans. Teams going into the locker room with Wagner leading 31-0 and showing no signs of wearing .............................. David Glasco has scored two touchdowns in the second quarter as the Thunderbirds are off to a 24-0 lead over Memorial midway through the second quarter. .......................... Myles Salas adds a field goal and Wagner is leading 10-0 after one. ..................... Wagner strikes quick with an 85 yard pass play to the 1. Tyrea Brown punches it in for 7-0 Thunderbird lead. .................................... Vipers win the coin toss and defer. Wagner wants to make an early statement and elects to receive. We're under 10 minutes to kickoff and are starting to fill up the Memorial side of the stands. ................................... Here we go again. The Memorial Vipers are going through pregame drills and Wagner is running through plays on the Memorial Stadium turf. The Thunderbirds (1-4, 1-1) are coming off a 7 point loss to Judson, while the Vipers are on a one game winning streak (if that makes any sense at all). The winner of tonight's District 27-5A contest puts itself in good position for a playoff spot, even though a win doesn't secure anything but a winning record after three games. The scoreboard says we have 33 minutes left until kickoff, so either get over here or check back on this blog to find out what's going on. If you can't get excited about Saturday's game between Texas and Oklahoma you are beyond the point where I can help you. We have Oklahoma coming in at No. 1 in the country and Texas at No. 5. Both teams are 5-0 on the season and look to be clicking. Colt McCoy is playing great and Sam Bradford is right there with him at the quarterback position. A coin flip should be used when predicting this game, but I'll go with the Sooners without the quarter. Partially because I'm poor and don't have a quarter, but also because I think the Oklahoma defense is stronger than the Longhorns. Texas has more youth in the secondary, while the Sooners are experienced and deep at all positions. Even their ball boys are star recruits and have surpassed their potential. This game will tell us who has a leg up in the south division of the Big 12 and will let us see exactly who Texas is this year. Who do you have in this one? The Memorial buses are on their way back from San Antonio with a 28-10 District 27-5A win over South San. Memorial scored another defensive touchdown, saw O.J. Hughes go over 150 yards rushing and witnessed Quinton Porter step up in the backfield. It wasn't perfect but Memorial is 1-1 in district and has won more games overall than it did all of last year after only four games this season. ....................................... Morales takes it in from 1 yard out to give the Bobcats their first points since the second quarter. Vipers still up 21-10 with 8:28 remaining. ................................... Kyle Mocyzgemba intercepts a Joe Morales pass and takes it 68 yards to the house. Vipers leading 21-3 in the last ticks of the third quarter. The touchdown is the fourth in four games the Vipers defense has recorded. ................. Quinton Porter 5 yard TD run gives Memorial a 14-3 lead midway through the third quarter. ................................................. .................... Memorial's Austin Elsik misses a 30-yard field goal attempt and the teams go into the locker room with the Vipers up 7-3. ........................ Vipers drive right back and take lead off a 1-yard TD run from O.J. Hughes. Memorial up 7-3 with 4:26 on the clock in the second quarter. .................................. Jose Moreno boots a 30-yard field goal to put the Bobcats up 3-0 with 9:09 left in the second quarter.
................................................. ..... Bobcats marching at will against Vipers at end of first quarter. Tied 0-0 after one. ......................... Both teams hurt by penalties early and limited in offense. Vipers punted away first possesion, South San was held on a fourth down attempt. Memorial back with the ball at its 35 yardline.
........................................ Vipers win toss and will receive here in San Antonio at South San Stadium. Vipers (2-1) while the Bobcats are 1-3. Both teams lost in District 27-5A openers, but can even district marks with a win here tonight.
ESPN will not be there but you can count on the Victoria Advocate. The Memorial Vipers return to District 27-5A play tonight at 7:30 p.m. at South San Antonio. The Bobcats are 1-3 after falling to Judson last week while the Vipers are 0-1 in district and 2-1 overall following their loss to Carroll last Friday. As television anchors love to say, "And I'll be there." Click here on my blog throughout the night to follow the game as it is happening. After all, how else are you going to know what's going on? Vipers can't get offense going and fall for the first time this season. Carroll heads back to Corpus Christi 4-0 and 1-0 in District 27-5A play. Memorial, with South San Antonio next on the schedule, falls to 2-1, 0-1.
................................ Memorial, Carroll exchange touchdowns. Tigers up 21-17 with 4:25 remaining. ....................... After a quick start by the Vipers, Carroll has responded with 14 unanswered points to lead 14-10 at halftime. Memorial has lost two fumbles and been penalized four times. O.J. Hughes has rushed for 57 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown, but has one of the fumbles. Hughes is 2-for-2 through the air, including a 15 yard completion to Kyle Moczygemba late in the second quarter. Carroll will receive the second half kickoff looking to expand its lead in this District 27-5A opener at Memorial Stadium. ...................................... Carroll takes first lead Anthony Davis takes in a 6 yard run to give the Carroll Tigers a 14-10 lead at Memorial Stadium. ................................... Tyler Maze gets himself wide open for Carroll quarterback Jake Sims. The two connect for a 32 yard TD pass to bring the score to 10-7 in favor of Memorial.
................................................. ........ O.J. Hughes rushes 32 yards for a TD to make it 10-0 in a frantic first couple of minutes of play. Austin Elsik hit a 32 yard field goal to start the game.
.......................... The national anthem has been played, the cheerleaders and drill team is off the field and a surprise helicopter fly by just occured. Now it's game time. Memorial lost the coin flip but Carroll deferred. Vipers elect to receive and go on offense first.
................................................. ............... Kickoff approaching at Memorial Stadium It's still 45 minutes until kickoff but the Memorial Vipers side of the stadium is already filling up. The Vipers (2-0) are on the field running through plays while Carroll (3-0) is going through stretches to get ready. Homecoming festivities are looming, but more importantly, so is the start of the game. Memorial is decked out in all black, while the Carroll Tigers are wearing white jerseys and dark blue pants and dark blue helmets. It may not be the only game in the state between two undefeated teams tonight, but Carroll at Memorial is the only one I'll be blogging at. Take it or leave it, but I'll start updating Viper and Tiger fans starting at 6:48 p.m. from the Memorial Stadium press box. Carroll (3-0) enters the first District 27-5A game for both teams after beating Class 4A Gregory-Portland while the home town Vipers downed Class 4A Moody in Corpus Christi. So kid, you want to be a sports writer? I just returned to my luxurious apartment from my trip to Corpus Christi covering the Memorial Vipers. It's almost 2 a.m. and now I'll sit up for the next three hours to calm down from the excitement of covering a game, writing it on deadline and then driving on dark, deer occupied roads. I'll find mistakes and will over think what I could have wrote to make it better. It will eat at me and I won't get over it until after worries from other stories drown this one out. I've been doing this for four years now and I'm still not used to it. This is the life of a sports writer. Sure they teach you the basics of covering stories in college. The structure, putting the most important facts up top and staying concise and clear. But they don't teach you about knocking on the door of a closed Whataburger dinning room to be turned down when all you want to do is write your story. They don't tell you you'll get lost in a town you know nothing about as your deadline is approaching. There's no chapter in a textbook about finding a "OK, I'll survive this" part of town. And they don't lecture you on talking your way into a hotel to write in their lobby a little after 11. That's part of the excitement though kid. Friday was one of those out of the norm experiences you get with this job. I was forced to leave the stadium so they could close it, turned down at the only 24-hour place I saw on my way out and finally found salvation at a Holiday Inn. Somehow I managed to make my deadline and my story will be in the paper on Saturday. It was frustrating, fun and tiring. And I can't wait to do it again. Jacob Moehrig picks off a pass and returns it 32 yards for a Viper score. Memorial can't get on the bus quite yet, but it's just a matter of time before the team is celebrating being 2-0 on the season.
...................................... Hughes pads Memorial's lead O.J. Hughes takes it in from 3 yards out for his third rushing touchdown of the game. The Vipers are up 28-7 and look to be in control after two fumble which could have cost them. 11:07 left on the scoreboard so there's still plenty of time. ...................................... Oy Vey! Vipers fumble on second consecutive possesion. Defense holds this time though and Memorial taking over at its 43.
................................................. Trojans on the board Trojans turn a fumble by O.J. Hughes into a 12-play drive for their first touchdown of the game. Vipers still up 21-7 midway through the third. ................................................. ................ Memorial to receive kickoff and looking to pad its lead. The Vipers have outgained Moody 184 to 94 in total yards tonight.
............................................ Vipers up 21 at half Vipers take it into the locker room at halftime leading 21-0. Offense took ball down to its 13 yardline but couldn't punch it in as time ran out.
................................................. ....... Hughes scores again O.J. Hughes looks unstoppable tonight. The junior scores his second touchdown of the night, this time coming from 4 yards out to take the score to 21-0. ................................................. . Memorial in control after 1 End of first quarter, Memorial leading 14-0. O.J. Hughes is 0-for-2 passing but has gained 39 yards and a touchdown. Jordan Joseph with a 46 yard TD run started the scoring and the Vipers defense looks sharp against the Trojans. Moody has two first downs, but hasn't given the Memorial faithful any reason to worry.
................................................. . What rust? Vipers defense holds, David Hood blocks punt and on the first offensive play, O.J. Hughes runs 10 yards to give Memorial a two-touchdown lead with 4:24 remaining in the first quarter. ......................... Joseph, Vipers strike first Looks like Jordan Joseph was pumped up by an exciting feature in yesterday's Advocate. The senior running back takes a flip from O.J. Hughes 46 yards for the first touchdown of the game. Memorial 7, Moody 0 ................... Moody quarterback Ryan Barnes picks first down on seven yard rush, but Vipers force Trojans to punt from the 28. Vipers take over at their 46 yardline.
................................................. .......... Memorial to kick off Vipers won the toss, deferred until second half. Moody decides to take its chances on offense first. Memorial defending south goal here in Corpus. Here we go.
................................................. .......... Countdown to Vipers kickoff Unless something dramatic happens in the next thirty minutes, we're going to have football tonight. Memorial and Moody are both going through their pregame routines on the Buccaneer Stadium field right now. The Vipers, wearing white jerseys with black shoulders and white pants, are looking to move to 2-0 on the season. Moody, in yellow pants and white helmets, are trying to avoid a 0-3 start to its season. Anticipation is building here in Corpus Christi with game time drawing near. Can't afford the gas to make it to Corpus Christi? Me neither but I'll be there in the press box at Buccaneer Stadium. Follow the Memorial Vipers taking on the Moody Trojans right here. I'll be blogging throughout the game, bringing you the highlights and scores as they happen. Memorial (1-0) looks to move to 2-0 for the first time in school history, while the Trojans are trying to avoid going 0-3 this season. The Vipers have not played a game since Aug. 29 after being canceled last week due to Hurricane Ike. Moody was also canceled but played the week before - falling to King. The lead of the AP story on the new Top 25 poll has me a little confused, mad and dizzy. With Southern California taking it to Ohio State on Saturday I knew it would be No. 1 and be getting a lot of respect. Deservedly so, but the AP writer whose job I covet, makes the claim that USC is a no-doubt-about-it No. 1. Really? Sure USC looked great in destroying an Ohio State team with a descent veteran and an athletic freshman sharing the quarterback position. But what about Oklahoma? The Sooners moved ahead of Georgia in the poll, but is an afterthought to USC right now. Oklahoma should not be even though I'm sure Bob Stoops is content playing the underdog card right now. The Sooners are for real and showed it by dismantling Washington on Saturday. They have a great quarterback, terrific running backs and of course a nightmare causing defense. I watched both teams on Saturday and have to say I don't even think it would be a close game. USC had its moments where I thought it looked great, but Oklahoma didn't have a single moment where I questioned its greatness. I'm looking forward to seeing the national championship between these two, but I'm scared to death of what Texas is in store for this season in Dallas. Poor Longhorns could be looking at a 40+ point loss if they can't make tremendous strides. Four straight St. Joseph passes fall incomplete. Schulenburg moves to 1-1 with a 20-13 win over the Flyers. St. Joseph falls to 0-2. ....................
Shorthorns up 20-13 with one minute remaining and punting.
................. Kevin Daniels found Hayden Vesely for a 25-yard pass down to the 11 yardline with one second left in the first half to set up a Flyer field goal attempt. Daniels, who is 2-for-6 passing in the game, knocked home a 28 yard field goal to take the teams into the locker room at halftime with Schulenburg up four. First Quarter SCH – Byron Powe 15 pass from David Houston (Kyle Bludau kick), 9:51. STJ – Kamen Ruelas 1 run (Kevin Daniels kick), 2:05. Second Quarter SCH – Dusty Broun 8 pass from Houston (Bludau kick), :38. STJ – Kevin Daniels 28 field goal.
.................................. Pregame With game time approaching the biggest pregame news out of Schulenburg for St. Joseph fans is Don Paul Dubose. The running back is standing on the sidelines wearing jeans with his jersey. The junior will not be playing tonight after getting speared last week at Refugio. Game time is down to 40 minutes with the Shorthorns looking to avenge last year's defeat to the Flyers.
Can't make the drive over to Schulenburg tonight? Don't worry. Follow the St. Joseph Flyers as they take on the Shorthorns. St. Joseph and Schulenburg are both looking to respond from losses in the first week of the season. The Flyers won last season 41-21 at Schulenburg, but both teams are replacing a number of key contributors. Game time is 7:30 p.m. My phone was silent on Saturday. It sat there all night without a sound, without a buzz and without regard. That's not unusual on most nights, but on the opening night of college football it's never like that. For the last 40 some odd years (an extreme exaggeration) I have received a call (usually 10 or so) throughout the first day of play from my cousin Junior. He's a die hard Texas A&M fan and is more loyal to the Aggies than I am to myself. Sure, he may have forgotten to pay his phone bill this month, but I'm suspecting the guy I call Mafia didn't call because of one of the most embarrassing losses the program has ever had. Who, I'm screaming Who, would ever believe that Texas A&M would ever lose to Arkansas State. The Red Wolves could have kept it close, sure, but a win over the Aggies seemed like an impossibility. Junior couldn't have seen it coming and I surely didn't. I had the Aggies rolling. I saw them creeping up the polls and being a surprise team this season. I believed in the experience of Stephen McGee and the explosiveness of Michael Goodson. I saw promise in the hiring of the former NFL coach Mike Sherman and I have always had faith in the Aggies defense. But I sat in disbelief at work on Saturday night, as I'm sure Junior was while listening to the game on the radio while playing pool at home. How could the Aggies, a program with so much potential, prestige and money, fall to a school with the athletic history of a 4-year-old child? The Aggies can still turn their season around. They'll beat Baylor in conference play and more than likely the Longhorns will crumble in defeat. But Saturday's loss is a reminder that the Aggies are not ready for the national spotlight. When you play Arkansas State you have to win. You can't keep it close and lose by four and even win by four. It's supposed to be a blowout. It's supposed to inspire and be something you build on. It's not supposed to embarrass. Even Junior will admit to that. Vipers move to 1-0 with 20-17 win. ................ Taft scores on a 1-yard TD pass and conversion through pass. Onside kick recovered by Memorial. Vipers lead 20-17 with :55 left. ............................ Taft taking over the ball at its 44 yard line. 2:35 remains in game. Vipers leading 20-9. ..... Raiders take advantage of Viper fumble, march down and punch in a 1-yard TD run from quarterback David Gonzales. Still, Vipers lead 20-9 late in the third. ....................................
Josh McNickels intercepts a pass and takes it down the sideline for a 75 yard touchdown run for the Vipers. Memorial punches in the conversion to take a 20-2 lead early in the third quarter.
................................................. ..... Nico Ramirez drills Taft quarterback to force fumble on late drive. Jay Trott recovery takes the Vipers into the locker room leading 12-2. O.J. Hughes has run for 92 yards and thrown for 87 more. Only downside for Vipers was safety on a bad snap on a punt. ........................................... Welcome to quarterback O.J. Hughes. Memorial goes up 6-0 on a 27-yard touchdown run by Hughes straight through the middle of the Raiders defense. Kick was blocked.
The Memorial Vipers football season is under way. Taft to receive the opening kickoff.
If anyone sees cars and trucks driving around with San Antonio Taft stickers please direct them to Memorial Stadium. With only around 50 people sitting on the visitor's side all I can assume is the Raider fans are driving around lost somewhere in Victoria. Memorial fans clearly know where the stadium is though. The Vipers may have a disadvantage in terms of weight, but the size of home crowd dwarfs Taft's. Twenty-five minutes until kickoff and the Vipers have left the field. Taft is still running through some plays. The Raiders look to be spreading things out a bit, going with four receiver sets at times. Somehow I secured a visitor's pass and was allowed entry into the Memorial Stadium press box. We're looking at one hour until the Vipers and San Antonio Taft kickoff. Memorial's quarterbacks and receivers on are the turf running through routes. O.J. Hughes is looking calm and collected and has been hitting his receivers in stride. The test will come when the Raiders pass rushers start putting some pressure on him. Taft is going through punts. It's a sight the Viper fans hope they'll be seeing a lot more tonight. Can't make it to Memorial Stadium tonight? Follow the game here with a live game blog from start to finish. Memorial hosts San Antonio Taft at 7:30 p.m. and are looking to get off to a good start to the season. The Raiders finished last season at 4-7, gaining all their victories in district and made the playoffs. When thinking about Heisman Trophy candidates in the Big 12 most people are going straight to the quarterbacks. There's Daniel at Mizzou, Reesing in Kansas, McCoy over in Austin (yes it's a stretch) and Bradford who avoided the pitfalls of used car dealerships in Norman, Oklahoma. But on Wednesday on an ESPN show former Houston Cougar Heisman winner Andre Ware brought up the name of a little running back in College Station. Ware pointed to Mike Goodson as a sleeper who could win the trophy. It's not often the Aggies get love nationally, so I was a little taken aback. But after thinking about it, there may not be reason to lock Ware up in a mental institution. Goodson is supposed to get the majority of the carries this season and has shown he has touchdown breaking speed. It will take a lot for him to win it, but it's not impossible. After all, if Ware believes, then why can't we? At long last our national nightmare is over. The kids can come out from under their desks and we can finally start to heal as a country. It's been seven months since we've had a steady diet of football and it shows. Tears have been flowing and psychologist have seen their phones blowing up. But at long last it is over. Thursday brings the first day of college football with 14 games on the schedule, while the high school season starts Friday in our area. ESPN is bringing us North Carolina State at South Carolina, while ESPN2 has Oregon State at Stanford. Call your bookie and pick South Carolina and Oregon State. You can mail my advisor's fee of 65 percent to the Advocate office. In our area the biggest game of the night is No. 23 Wake Forest visiting those yellow clawed Baylor Bears. The game will be televised on FSN and starts at 7 p.m. Baylor can make a statement in its first game under Art Briles with a win over a top 25 ranked team. Bear nation (is there one) is just hoping it's not the same statement they've been hearing all of their lives.
What else does Mike Sherman and the Aggies have to do to get some respect? They named Stephen McGee as the starting quarterback this week, making them one of the few teams in the country with a three-year starter under center. Still, those folks at the Associated Press decided to leave them off its first top 25 poll of the season. Texas A&M didn't even get any votes. Even Tulsa, Arizona and Connecticut received some votes. Coming in at the top spot is Georgia with Ohio State sitting pretty at No. 2 and waiting for a Bulldog defeat. Oklahoma is four with Sam Bradford back at quarterback and Nick Harris leading a strong defense for the Sooners, while Texas grabbed enough attention to come into the season at No. 11. One spot back of Texas is Texas Tech at No. 12. Growing up in Texas and following college football, I never imagined a day when Tech would be ranked higher than the Aggies coming into any season. I guess we'll see how it goes starting in two weeks. Who is your No. 1 team in the country and who do you think will win the Big 12 South? Mark McGwire and Charlie Weis both hate history. At least their own history. Weis, who is entering his third season as head coach at Notre Dame, doesn't want anyone to remind him of the Irish's 3-9 record last season. McGwire simply just doesn't want to talk about the past. For Weis, last year was a nightmare. The Irish set a school record for losses in a season, which included getting off to a zero for five start. Weis' quote that was dispersed by the Associated Press and printed in Saturday's Advocate gave a great quote. It read, "You will not hear one word out of anyone about 2007. We're moving forward." Heck, do you blame the guy who entered South Bend as the savior. He came in with NFL experience and with a king's welcome. But in all fairness to Weis and those Notre Dame fans out there, you have to remember and ask about last season when talking about this year. If the season is a failure, Weis' job has to be on the line. Not just for this year's potential losses, but also for last years. You can't fire someone for one bad year, but when you're making as much money as Weis is you have to be held accountable. Also, don't fool yourself. If Weis and the Irish are somehow able to flip the team into a winner this year, they will run with the fact they were down last year. Weis and his players will welcome questions about how hard last year was and how they used it as motivation. Weis may ask for people to forget about last season, but if the Irish play like they did in 2007 this will be his last season. The players weren't in the field house, but Mickey Finley and his coaching staff had football on the mind on Friday afternoon. Finley was demonstrating technique to his assistant coaches in the hallway as I walked into the Memorial football compound to do my first interview of the season with the Vipers coach. He was showing three coaches parts of the game he's learned throughout his years. On Monday, Finley and those coaches pass the knowledge onto the Vipers. Memorial hits the newly carpeted stadium grounds at 8 a.m. and will practice until noon on the first day. Those practices shift to 4-8 p.m. from Tuesday through Saturday for the first week. Memorial players can expect to hit the ground running, according to Finley. Monday through Thursday will be without pads, but Friday will bring full contact drills. Finley said every practice is important and the goal is to turn around the program. I just got back into Victoria from my first football experience of the season. First on my plate of high school football was a trip to Hallettsville and a visit with the defending TAPPS Division IV state champion Indians. Pat Henke is entering his 33rd season at Sacred Heart and said he's excited about the team's depth this season. Sacred Heart lost five players to graduation, but had 47 players out for practice this morning. In all his time at Sacred Heart, Henke said the most he's ever had was 48. Next up for me is the first day of practice for the Flyers of St. Joseph. The team has been practicing since 7:30 a.m. and isn't supposed to wrap up until 7 p.m. You've got to love it. USA Today released its Top 25 preseason poll on Friday with most of the usual names at the top. Texas, coming off a 10-3 season, is ranked 10th coming into its third year with Colt McCoy as quarterback. The Longhorns lost running back Jamaal Charles and wide receiver Limas Sweed, but are still getting respect. At the top of the list is the Georgia Bulldogs. They had a strong season last year, but will face a rough SEC road if they want to stay at No. 1 for the entire season. Oklahoma comes into the year as the top ranked Big 12 team, while Misouri is No. 7. The Sooners still have a great running game and should be solid with Sam Bradford back for his second year under center. Missouri is a new team gaining respect, mainly because of the play of former Southlake Carroll quarterback Chase Daniel. Texas A&M is out of the polls but gained three votes.
The Top 25 teams in the USA Today college football coaches preseason poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 2007 records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and final ranking: |
